[Taocow PBEM] [Everyone Back Together] Book 3 - Chapter V - England

[Aaron Clausen]

>> [GM]
>> ...
>>
>> The smoke clears a bit and it reveals Sir Justin holding Osiris,
>> armor in tatters, burns and blood covering his body. The old man
>> is clearly dead.
>>
>> More death and injury are revealed. All the knights are on the
>> ground, some writhing in pain, some not moving at all. It's hard to
>> take in, but the injuries are awful. Some of the men are running to
>> their comrades to try to give what medical care they can, but with
>> the jets coming about, it's more of a quick triage and those that
>> they can judge likely to survive are being dragged towards the
>> forest.
>> [/GM]

> [Justin]
> Justin will ignore the crazy ice golem, and focus on the triage
> efforts. First thing to check, is whether Osiris is completely dead
> or just mostly dead (in other words, revivable with psionic healing
> or not). Justin then scans the nearby wounded with Psychic Diagnosis
> as well.
> [/Justin]

[GM]
Osiris's aorta was torn to shreds by the force of the explosion and his 
failed armor allowed shrapnel to pierce his lungs and abdomen.  Coupled 
with his age and old injuries, it was too much for him.

The other wounded nearby are in various states of injury.  A couple are 
near death, the others are not in immediate danger.
[/GM]

>> [GM]
>> And then they see the elf, Arsandel, that they had rescued
>> unconscious from the submarine. He is surrounded in a sickening
>> green light as his hands literally dive into the chest of one of
>> the injured, a gout of blood spurting up as the elf begins chanting
>> "Isus vaelius imraeus turani..." Above him the air is shimmering
>> and vibrating, and then there is almost a crack, like a small
>> dimensional rift, beyond which is blackness, and a black, smoking
>> six fingered clawed hand reaches through...
>> [/GM]

> [Lady Frost]
> Frost hadn't had time to really dive for any sort of cover when the
> blasts hit.Even with the smoke fast clearing, she was still too far
> from the larger group to really see what had happened, yet she knew,
> whatever had gone on, it was her fault.She unwittingly dragged those
> planes here. She bailed out without making sure they'd been taken
> care of. And then she walked towards the group of them, giving away
> any sort of cover they might have had.
>
> Angrily she got to her feet and ripped up the largest tree she could
> manage and still make use of... then she paused, waiting for the
> right moment, and hurled it upwards into the path of the again
> incoming aircraft [Strike: Natural 20!].
> [/Lady Frost]

[GM]
The tree soars into the sky and hits the jet in the wing, sheering off a 
large portion of it.  The pilot desparately tries to maintain control, 
but in moments the jet strikes the treetops of the forest and seconds 
later there is another loud explosion and a fireball rises up above the 
forest.
[/GM]

> [Alex]
> I suggest that we do not clump together to make better targets for
> the aircraft," Alex suggests to Louissa. "Might want to see if you
> can find some cover yourself."
> [/Alex]

[Louissa]
"No argument there!" Louissa replies.
[/Louissa]

> [Alex]
> Alex will then target the attacking aircraft with her rifle and dive
> for cover once she gets a shot off [Strike: 17].
> [/Alex]

[GM]
Alex manages to get a burst off at the other jet [Damage: 60MD].
[/GM]

[Louissa]
Louissa fires in turn [Strike: 4], but misses.
[/Louissa]

[GM]
The pilot of the remaining jet seems to realize that there are still 
enemies on the ground capable of doing him damage.  He fires another 
missile in the general direction of Alex and Louissa [Strike: 4], but it 
misses and hits three or four hundred feet away.
[/GM]

> [Alex]
> On the radio to the rest of the group, Alex will radio, "Suggest we
> see about some cover."
> [/Alex]

> [Owen]
> Owen will throw a fireball into the small rift the Elf is calling,
> and immediately begin moving towards the Elf [Strike: 20, not
> natural].
> [/Owen]

[GM]
The fireball disappears into the rift and there's a flash as if it hits 
something [Damage: 22MD].  There is an earth-shaking roar from the other 
side, and the clawed hand briefly retreats out of sight.

The elf's ritual seems to be reaching a fevered pitch.

"Suma essam aleanus Vaelius, suma!". To those that understand Dragonese, 
the elf seems to be saying "Fly, puisant master Vaelius, fly!"
[/GM]

> [Koba]
> Shaking the dust and debris off his armor as he makes it to his
> hands and feet. Scanning around it is hard for him to tell who is
> injured by the blast and who escaped unharmed. Looking at those near
> by, he sees the knights now in need of assistance themselves. As he
> crawls to the knight who lies near him to offer any medical aid he
> can, he looks up to see the elf in the middle of his summoning
> ritual. He freezes and a mix of anger and remorse washes over him
> stronger than he has ever had before. He had been the one who argued
> to save him from the sinking sub in the first place despite others'
> warnings.
>
> "STOP!" he yells instinctively. He immediately activates his
> electrical aura and pulls out his rifle firing wildly at the elf.
> [Strike: 12]
> [/Koba]

[GM]
The shot hits the elf [Damage: 10MD], but the aura around it absorbs the 
shot.  The elf seems to ignore it and Koba entire.
[/GM]

 > [Justin]
 > Although he started to aid the wounded, when the elf begins his
 > summoning, Justin's Sixth Sense just about wrenches him around to
 > face the new threat. He fires a mini-missile from each shoulder pod,
 > pausing between them to see if the first has an effect [Strike: 20,
 > not natural]. The first is a concussion missile aimed squarely at
 > the ground at Arsandel's feet
 > [/Justin]

[GM]
The first missile strikes the ground at Arsandel's feet [Damage: 18MD], 
knocking the Elf out of the way, though the aura surrounding the elf 
seems to absorb the force of the blast.  Pretty much the rest of the 
company gets knocked about a bit [Damage: 2SDC].

The ritual may not have been completed, for the rift seems to be 
shrinking, but there is some strange flickering of light beyond that 
suggests movement, and a shadow seems to stretch in front of the rift on 
to the ground...
[/GM]

 > [Justin]
 > The second is a plasma missile aimed into the rift, if the first
 > missile doesn't disrupt the ritual [Strike: 22].
 > [/Justin]

[GM]
Justin's second missile screams towards the rift, and then, with a 
movement so fast, it seems like lightning, a hand, an arm and part of a 
shoulder are out and the hand strikes at the missile [Strike: 32], 
knocking it astray and striking the ground a few feet from the rift 
[Damage: 30MDC].  The missile's blast hits Justin, Ted and Arsendel, as 
well some of the injured soldiers, probably killing some of them.

The rift is closing quickly [Strike against demon: 15], but the creature 
is able to leap out [Dodge: 27].  A mere moment later, there is, 
standing there, a fourteen foot tall red-skinned creature with wings, 
horns on its head and a mouth full pointed fangs [Horror Factor: 12, see 
attached image].

Carlos, Koba and Owen [Save vs. HF: 2, 6 and 7] are overtaken by the 
sight of this thing, but the others, including Lady Frost, Alex and 
Louissa, who can see it appear, are, while obviously taken aback, 
maintain their composure.

The thing looks over at Arsendel, who is lying face down on the ground. 
  For the first time everyone notices an iron ring on the elf's finger, 
the glowing from it fading.

In a voice somewhere between a loudspeaker and someone dragging their 
fingernails across a chalkboard, the creature speaks.  "My summoning is 
incomplete.  The wielder has left me without instruction.  Without 
purpose, I destroy."

With that it marches towards Justin.  "I'll start with the d'zalka..." 
it says.
[/GM]


-- 
Aaron Clausen
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